I had occasion to rework some archived shots on the theme of transportation. These are fresh reworks in Lightroom using the latest skills I have. One thing I notice (and it's a little frustrating) is that unless I PP-d it in the last couple of months or so I am very apt to want to redo the picture 'cuz I kin do it better. And better. At least I hope it's better...

Attachments

Colsac III, Merrimac Cable Ferry on Lake Wisconsin, last free ferry left on the Wisconsin State Trunk Highway System.

Steam Riverboat American Queen (1995), largest steam riverboat ever built, at Red Wing, MN on the Mississippi (This was made handheld with a tiny Nikon P6000 that did not output raw files)

SS Meteor (1896), Last Surviving "Whaleback" Laker, at Superior, WI on Lake Superior. A whaleback was a type of cargo steamship of unusual design, with a hull that continuously curved above the waterline from vertical to horizontal. When fully loaded, only the rounded portion of the hull (the "whaleback" proper) could be seen above the waterline. With sides curved in towards the ends, it had a spoon bow and a very convex upper deck. It was formerly used on the Great Lakes of Canada and the United States, notably for carrying grain or ore. The hatches were narrow owing to the curvature of the hull which eventually rendered them obsolete. Only 44 were built.

SS American Spirit, 1,000 foot laker, Lake Superior, backing out of the ore docks at Agate Bay, Two Harbors MN. (Full disclosure: that skiff with the fisherfellas was not in the original picture. It was in another frame of the same series but the composition on that one was not exactly the way I wanted, with the second 1,000-footer (Presque Isle) incoming, so I lifted the boat and it's wake from the other pitcher and stuck it in this one.) :D

good ones, never saw a whaleback before - I bet they are something loaded and in a storm..

I think part of the reasoning behind the design was to weather storms better than slab-sided boats. Wikipedia has a detailed article on them. Fully loaded they presented very little resistance to waves that washed right over, intentionally. But they had some flaws, chief of which were the hatches. On any ship the scuttles must be absolutely watertight (the reason El Faro was recently lost with 39 hands was a bad leak in a bent hatch that caused her to take water that was not noticed until too late). The whole idea of the whaleback was to shed water over the deck, but the camber made the hatch covers very susceptible to bending and other damage that could cause them to leak, which apparently they did. Also, because of their deliberately low profile, rather like a surfaced submarine, they were prone to being rammed by other boats that did not see them in time, even in good weather. The hatches were what did them in, mainly because the curves of the hull made them inherently narrow, and that interfered with loading and unloading. Anything that slows a working boat down is bad. But it was an interesting idea.

if warming/unpredictable weather patterns continue, perhaps we will see a comeback to these submarine styled ships. One would think that with new technology and materials, an exoskeleton like a whale and better engineered hatches will do the trick - assuming of course that this transportation type infrastructure is invested in. probably not, why build a complex shape when a simple floating coffin (like your last) is cheaper.

I had occasion to rework some archived shots on the theme of transportation. These are fresh reworks in Lightroom using the latest skills I have. One thing I notice (and it's a little frustrating) is that unless I PP-d it in the last couple of months or so I am very apt to want to redo the picture 'cuz I kin do it better. And better. At least I hope it's better...

Great boat series. I love that paddleboat!

You too? I am a processing addict, I confess. There is no end to how many hours I can entertain myself playing with photos with different kinds of processing from very straightforward to very creative, color to black and white or toned, There just is no end to the fun of it.

"God gave me photography so that I could pray with my eyes" - Dewitt Jones

Excellent series Chuck !!! Love the riverboat. Cincinnati use to have a Tall Stacks event ever so often. We would attend to observe all the various riverboats along with popular known name music artist, such as BB King prior to his passing. The most great part was, it was FREE.

Tall Stacks, formally known as the Tall Stacks Music, Arts, and Heritage Festival, is a festival held every three or four years in the Cincinnati, Ohio area, which celebrates the city's heritage of the riverboat. The sixth (and, to date final) edition was held on October 4 through October 8, 2006.

You too? I am a processing addict, I confess. There is no end to how many hours I can entertain myself playing with photos with different kinds of processing from very straightforward to very creative, color to black and white or toned, There just is no end to the fun of it.

You, Min, are very creative. I'm still stuck 40 years in the past, doggedly pursuing "print quality." Every so often I try one of the onboard effects in Photoshop, maybe make a B&W conversion, flip something to a negative, but most of the time all I really want is the highest achievable quality at my current state of skill.

Excellent series Chuck !!! Love the riverboat. Cincinnati use to have a Tall Stacks event ever so often. We would attend to observe all the various riverboats along with popular known name music artist, such as BB King prior to his passing. The most great part was, it was FREE.

Tall Stacks, formally known as the Tall Stacks Music, Arts, and Heritage Festival, is a festival held every three or four years in the Cincinnati, Ohio area, which celebrates the city's heritage of the riverboat. The sixth (and, to date final) edition was held on October 4 through October 8, 2006.

I lurves that riverboat too. She is still out there cruisin'! Daphne always had a yen to take one of those long Mississippi cruises but they are $$$pendy. But in 2004 she got to ride The Spirit of Peoria from Dubuque up to Cassville, Wisconsin during the replay of the Grand Excursion of 1854. For the rest of her life she kept bugging various folks to do it again but I guess it was just too expensive. She loved it SO very much! I was shooting film at the time so goodness only knows where those pictures went... If they haven't had Tall Stacks on the Ohio in that long it's probably due to the expense of gathering all those boats. Maybe they can't make it back in ticket sales.

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The founding principles of photoMENTORIS is to have a place where professional and enthusiast photographers could come and meet in order to teach, share and learn from each other. It is our goal to foster this principle in an atmosphere that encourages creativity and exploration and promotes the advancement of our art through peer mentoring and supportive critique, while having fun along the way.